But I'm Only Human
by clearlonelysky
Summary: Too many innocent souls have been taken since that faithful day out to the surface. The ticking of their once frozen timeline faced gravely with unpredictable, unmanageable consequences. You had to reset. You had to make sure nobody leaves the underground to save all your monster friends from the unavoidable doom. ...But you were only human. Rated T for dark theme. Sansk, platonic
1. Turning Back

**A/N: Hello, everyone, my name is clearlonelysky, or CLS to be succinct.**

 **Though I've been a fan from the start, this is my first try on an Undertale fic, due to a sudden inspiration. :D**  
 **I sort of have an idea and some drabbles of how this storyline is going to unfold and conclude, but I imagine it will not last too long of chapters. (Edit: *cough* I take that back.)**

 **Anyway, this is a Sans x Frisk fic (which I like to call Sansk) with reader insert in second person. And of course because the reader is Frisk, he or she will be referred as Frisk in the story by other characters. Frisk will not be gender defined, but there might be some bias to what I imagine my version of Frisk to be.**

 **And unfortunately, the story here is pretty dark. There are references to various kinds of hatred present in the human world. Let yourself be warned if it makes you uncomfortable.. I'm aiming for a lot of feels.**

 **So, here we are with the story. Thank you.**

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"...what did you say..?"

"...I'm going to reset."

...

"no."

The cold winter wind bit through the silence as did his frigid voice. His alabaster skull was as pale as it could ever be, in dread of losing someone else.

You looked at him intently, eyes holding immense depth of sorrow.

"I have to Sans, it's the only way-" you started with him,

"stop."

"-it's the only way to _bring back Papyrus!"_

You could tell, that Sans noticeably shook from your forwardness. He looked down, refusing to face you, yet you could not let his quiet plea stir you from crying out your desperation.

You trembled and continued in agony,

"I have to tell them! I have to return and warn everybody not to come out to this _god foresaken_ _place_.. _!"_

"..."

Listening silently, the skeleton had no words to offer. But you knew the heart of his was already hollow and bottoming itself out.

No words could describe just how much of deep snow you were in with him right now. Not even Snowdin had winter lasting as cold and bitter as this one before...

Right now you were standing alongside the blue fur coated skeleton, in front of his brother's grave. His one and only. Dead leaves and wilting grass were surrounding the lonely tombstone to keepsake his dust remains.

It had been but a month since his tall cheerful younger sibling had passed. By far, you could attest his innocent brother had nothing but pure and hopeful intentions in him, always ceaselessly believing in the universal kindness within humans. But the very world that he used to believe in was not on his side. To everyone's absolute horror, while the vivacious younger skeleton was actively participating in another one of numerous peaceful demonstrations calling for monster rights, his crowd of supporters had been violently raided by human extremists, triggered by the influence of their new rising leader.

And it wasn't just Papyrus that they had lost until then...

Too many innocent souls have been taken since that faithful day out to the surface years ago. The first scenery they had met with their eyes; the beautiful ray of sunrise, promised them with hope for the future, but little did they know reconciliation with humans was an overwhelming task to conquer. The ticking and proceeding of their frozen timeline gravely faced with unpredictable, unmanageable consequences.

No doubt, when they first came out to the surface, humans were fearful than ever at their sudden emergence. And it wasn't long until that fear turned to hatred. Humans had a tendency to hate and discriminate what they did not understand and what was different. So after realizing that monsters could be far weakened from their ill-intent, more and more humans turned to abuse. What with the thick of already embedded hate and prejudice even within their kind, the humans ended up finding the perfect target to vent their hatred—the newcomers from the underground, or as they called them; _freaks, demons, filthy creatures... Undergrounders._

Strangely and morbidly, with the discovery of a much more different kind of species, a far more common antagonism was created, as the call for humans to unite and come together became stronger than any other time in existence. Although there had indeed been kind and right-minded humans who spoke for equality and compensation for their lock-up, their opinions were often trampled and met with harsh denunciation. Despite the difficulty, much progress have been made and policies have been ratified for the past many years. But life did not get any easier.

Unspoken or outright discrimination was prevalent. Toriel, your adoptive mother, had accomplished her dreams of becoming a teacher with monumental efforts, but had to face severe ridicule and bigotry in and out of her workplace with minimal protection from the law. Asgore, after the two gradually found mutual comfort, reunited with her and became your father, but could not evade constant interrogation from the human community of whether he should be held responsible for his actions for taking human souls, or be exonerated considering the circumstances that were put on him by the human race in the first place. From all the controversy, he himself was guilted by acknowledging his past acts and his wife blaming and leaving him for his incompetence before. Your parents were going through another marital crisis due to hard times, and though that did not mean they had been negligent to you, you were saddened by the noticeable distance that grew between them in your house.

As for Undyne and Alphys, their obvious feelings for each other could not follow through in the eyes of society. They have worked hard in their best endeavor to overcome discriminatory glances, but at the end, they came to a decision that they should take a break in their relationship, thinking that probably them staying apart for some time was best for both their safety.

And when the two were hit with the unfortunate news of Papyrus, they mourned in their own ways of grievance, staying put in their separate homes. Afterwards, Undyne ultimately took on the path for vengeance, as none of the police force were willing to investigate the incident of her dear guiltless friend. The brave and self-righteous warrior had for many years suppressed her aggressive methods after realizing the backlashes that always inevitably came after. But her last straw of patience had broken. She vowed to get to the bottom of this and serve justice herself. Despite everyone's pleading disapproval, she adamantly converted towards vigilantism and disappeared shortly after the skeleton's death, never heard ever since.

Her lizard partner had been completely out of herself after that, choosing to disconnect herself with any outside contact and instead distracting herself with endless re-runs of animes, junk food, and incessant mumbles to herself that everything was going to be okay. Though you attempted multiple times to persuade her out her distress, the recluse had not once agreed to step out of her shut doors. She had also long let go of her lab work and research, as she was immediately labeled a disgrace and was not trusted for her past unorthodox experiments underground. Her updates and repairing of Mettaton had in due course, come to a stop. The robot had disappeared shortly after that. Some say they have seen an old outdated automaton in the midst of a roaming circus, but the truth of it had not yet been verified.

...You could hardly find any hope in this grim situation. At this stage of grief, the determination you were known for, had almost dissipated with all your energy.

And by now you were feeling pretty worthless in your position of purely 'nominal' ambassador. Looking back, none of your attestments and claims were ever seen valid as you were just a child when all this happened. What's worse, the authorities initially deemed you brainwashed and indoctrinated into their 'savage' ways of living and 'uneducated' culture. As a result, Toriel and Asgore at one point almost lost custody of you for child abuse, if it weren't for their utmost and consistent efforts to prove worthy to take you under their roof.

Your whole school life, naturally, was full of bullying and judgemental stares. Some of those who were at least decent still had no courage to become deeply involved with you in a true friendship, which you have come to accept. You were different from them; it was destined from birth, to be sent down underground to mingle with monsters. But that was another story.

All up to your teenage years, you were a loner with no human to truly call a friend. And while you did not particularly excel in any of the classes, it was a miracle how you got by with most of them.

But all was okay, as long as you knew you could withstand all of it together with your monster companions... Yet, somehow things had gotten worse by every passing year... and every passing _sacrifice_.

After all this happening, you were now seventeen, close to adulthood, but still incompetent and powerless. You were one human after all.

It was regretful to even call yourself a 'human' by now. _What is it that you could do, now that everything came to this?_

...Now it all arrived to this confrontation with Sans.

You sighed mentally.

Where to start with him...

Sans in front of you was disheveled, even more so from his usual lazy self, and it was utterly heart wrecking. You remembered, as soon as they came out to the surface that very day, as subtle as it was, there had been hope lighting up in the skeleton. He surely thought, now that they weren't stuck in an endlessly repeating cycle, every one of his efforts and accomplishments would in time come to mean something in the end. You in passing days, have either heard or found out for yourself that this laid-back skeleton had once been an avid scientist, a try-hard, a go-getter, ...until he stepped too far into the truth and grasped the reality of things. His long burnt out motivation, from that point on in front of the sun, seemed to be rising back up to the surface. But to all dismay, after overcoming the one underground, he had to meet with a graver truth above.

Yet, despite all tragic events from the journey, he had insisted, for whatever cost, the free world and free timeline to be better, and better off untouched, compared to the imprisonment before down below. Thus, he had made sure in his hands to both threaten and plead to you to give your word that, once you had set the monsters free, to never _ever_ alter an event or intervene on the decisions of others by reloading or resetting. This, after undergoing his pain countless times from countless events and timelines, you agreed to. In fact, one of them was a trauma to you, as you could never forget how in one of those dimensions, you had let yourself be taken over by the one evil entity and went as far as to hurt everybody... including Sans, the sole one who understood and stayed by you on the concept of time distortion.

So by all means, all this time, no matter what happened, you had done everything in your willpower to stay true to your promise made with Sans, to NEVER RESET.

But now, seeing him like this heavily deterred you from your oath and from a sturdy mind state. He had made himself sentry to his brother's grave ever since, obviously evoking painful memories, so that no one could dare approach and vandalize his resting place even after his passing.

He was kicked out for loitering multiple times, but as of now, the cemetary guard paid no mind in what he did, pitying his situation.

However you for one, weren't about to turn a blind eye, not anymore. Your long hidden determination started to reignite before him.

Sans finally took a sigh, his breath shown in the cold. His harsh dissent relented at what was plainly shown as he shielded his eye sockets with one of his boney hands.

"...kid, do you realize how much you are risking here..?" he shook with his horrors resurfacing, "a reset back to all those years..? your body, it cannot take all of that..." His later sentences fell apart.

"It's better than letting all this ever happen..." You laid down firmly, though barely above a whisper.

Sans couldn't respond for a moment. His hand over his sockets lowered back to his side and retreated to his coat pocket.

"you know it isn't in me to stop you." he said rather curtly, turning away.

It sure pained to see his turned back, though you could understand how it was too much for him.

Tears gathered on the rim of your eyes as you likewise turned to your back. You had made up your mind after a thousand reconsiderations, but it would be an understatement to say that you were scared.

You were terrified... Not for the guarantee of your existence; but for your capability, the end result to your decision, and... the weight of memory.

As you had learned through the past, a memory only remembered by you was a high cost and burden to endure. You might enclose yourself forever in eternal layers of time that only you could recollect. It was what you feared the most, and feared would happen.

 _..Sans..._

You gritted your teeth. It was disgusting.. You knew you were selfish. You knew you were betraying him by making him go through this excruciating experience again...

So you were absolute _scum_ to even hope...that this time, like always, you would still be blessed to have him remember you... even through the immeasurable turn back of time. That's why you chose to tell him this... other than the fact that he deserved to know you were breaking your promise, because he was the one who had even the slightest chance of remembering you...

 _What if he doesn't...?_

You felt yourself still to the bone. He was all you had even out of _nothing_ and evermore. _Without him,_ you...

You took a desperate glimpse over your shoulder to view his rigid back. From all those shared timezones and repeats of recollections, it was obvious that you had developed unrequited feelings for the skeleton for quite a while now. But you have willfully restrained the growing emotions, aware of how it would be viewed, how it would affect Sans as a monster and further drive apart the conflicting community, especially with you as a human child...

A human child viewed as a _monster_. But regardless... a human, and nothing more but a child.

 _Who were you kidding..._ You whipped your head back forward and harshly wiped away your tears with your sleeve. Even if it weren't for that, you knew for sure in no existing timeline in any universe, was it going to be possible.

It was an unfair burden to be put on the already burdened Sans. It was utterly selfish and you knew it.

You took a deep frosty breath. It didn't matter if it broke every bone, or every inch of soul in your sustenance by doing this... You were determined to make things, not _right,_ but for the better. Turn it back to when everything underground was perfectly happy as it was already, and let everybody know how the world they long for is nothing worth looking forward to. Nowhere in the cruel and ill-willed overground had a space of heart great enough to accomodate their eternal kindness.

You sniffled your runny nose from the iciness of the air. It was a formidable task you had taken upon your shoulders. You readied yourself as you closed your eyes, mindfully distancing yourself from the cemetary. A wind of aura disseminated from your spot, from the great amount of determination that was needed. You concentrated harder and harder into the light...

"frisk."

You stopped rigid, the background of black void dissolving instantly. The warmth of coat sleeves and skeletal hands crushed against you and wrapped tightly around your torso, refusing to let go. His jawbone dug into your shoulder, a part of his hitched breathing felt on your cheek. At once at the contact, withheld tears streamed from your eyes.

"...i'll be there waiting, okay?" the skeleton mustered in his breath, his voice a bit shaken and raspy.

"O..okay.. Sans..." You hiccuped through your sobs. You stuffed your face into your palms, overwhelmed with relief.

"...you better remember me, you hear?"

You couldn't help but laugh meekly, "Same goes for you, bonehead..."

There was a low chuckle before you felt him let go. You faced toward him and nodded slowly as a signal for your departure. Your eyes took its last moments of this timeline to search his face, inscribing every inch of the skeleton to your memory. He was in grief, and a wreck, but he was still Sans. His signature fixed smile triggered an ache in your heart at this particular moment in time.

Soon enough, you closed your eyes and let the darkness enfold. Another wind of aura, and the sole yellow ray of long untouched save point appeared before you. You reached towards its immeasurable depth.

"don't disappear on me, kid."

You last heard him say, before you let the intense waves of light take over you.

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There was a severe mind-numbing pain spreading all throughout your frame, the world spiraling out of control. You felt yourself plummeting down an endless pit, possibly down what could be a wormhole. But after painfully writhing and stretching yourself out to cope with it, it thankfully alleviated in due time. With that, in quiet blinking, you found yourself on a bed of golden flowers, the scent and sight of it all too familiar.

You pulled yourself up, surprised by how light you felt. You looked down at yourself. What first caught your eye were your tiny hands and noticeably shorter limbs. What was more, you were back into your old striped shirt from all those years ago. To your expected surprise, in spite of your memories intact, you were trapped in your petite younger self.

You wobbled up to your feet, adjusting to your new, albeit previous body. You gave yourself a stretch, all the way down from your toes up to your fingertips. While you were at it, you wiggled all of your fingers that were unquestionably well in place. Then you tried bouncing up and down. All was good, but...

 _Weird._ Something felt amiss, other than your youth-restored body. ... _Empty._

At a sudden rush of thought, you gasped as you let your surroundings go dark, in search of your save point light.

Nothing.

...

..

Your legs lost strength to support you, having you land back on the flowers. It was gone. No matter how many times you tried, and how much determination you gathered up like you always did before, there was no light to reach into.

You had lost your ability to RESET.

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 **A/N: That's what I have for now.**

 **Oh, and if there is anyone worrying about Frisk being a minor, the relationship of Frisk and Sans among depiction of his/her/their minor years are strictly platonic on my part. Which makes me kind of unsure of the rating... because I think the theme is still pretty dark?**

 **Well anyways, I shall return. Let me know of any input.**

 **P.S. the last scene with Sans is inspired by** ** _The Girl Who Leapt Through Time._**


	2. Among the Ruins

**A/N: Thank you for the follows and favorites! Let's go chapter 2! :)**

 **This chapter is also pretty dark, with some underlying storylines that I came up with. But it lightens up a bit!**

 **(Edit: Tweaked the encounter scene with Sans if anyone notices...haha.)**

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A drop of loose sweat trailed down the side of your face. _...Had you lost your soul...?!_

You fumbled your hands all over your body frantically. You didn't _feel_ different... To that extent, at least.

This you were sure, because that one time when another soul took over you, you _definitely_ felt something more severe than this.. as if you were in a foggy murk, unable to get through to reach your true decisions with your determination. Yet, right now, you weren't in that fogginess. And at the same time, you didn't feel completely _void,_ but as if something had been drained out from you.

You looked around to see if you could sense an evil presence. There were none you could discern.

"Huh..." you let out, confused.

But before you could delve into more questioning, a yellow flower piped up in front of your watch.

"Howdy!"

You staggered as it greeted you, with that innocent friendly smile that you poignantly recollected. Even if it weren't for the turn back of time, in the past, it had still managed to always get to you. This time, however, was for a far graver reason.

Surprise soon waned to wistful sorrow on your face. Flowey... He was the one soul you were not able to _save..._ or, rather, in the precedent case, take to damnation.

Not taking notice of your expression, the joyful plant strung out instructions on its own on how to get by in the underground, hiding its ulterior motives. And soon enough, along the process, it arrived to exposing your soul in front of you for your convenient view.

You flinched at the sensation and looked at the bright red heart in awe.

...So your soul _was_ intact... that was a relief for the moment. Then why...?

You gulped down a rising lump and apprehension. Your theory by now was that, after turning back what was close to 10 years, you might have used up or neutralized all what was in you to save and reset. Though you still had determination, your assimilation with magic seemed to have given out. ...Crud, you really had to consult Sans for this. Up until then, you just had to make sure you don't die. That shouldn't be _too_ hard...

"Hey buddy, are you listening?" Flowey's voice interrupted, _"Catch. the. friendliness. pellets."_ it snapped.

Blinking, you realized you had completely forgotten to take notice of Flowey about to steer friendlin..- _bullets_ toward your way. Of course, knowing the consequence, you dodged them with swift ease.

There was a surge of annoyance struck on the flower's face.

"It seems you weren't paying attention, you're supposed to-"

"Cut it out, Asriel."

"?!"

...

...

Pure horror pelted petal-first on the flower as it blanched to its roots.

"Wh-whu-wu... hnnn.. ha..."

Unable to form any comprehensible words, _he_ began to plainly unravel under his identity crisis. You looked at him with sudden pity. Though it was necessary, maybe the lay-down on him was a tad too harsh.

Nevertheless, just as you predicted, a prompt fire attack stopped both you and him to advance any further within the still floating assault pellets.

"My child, are you alright?" tumbled out a worried voice, "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth..."

The flower had already slithered away after your doubletake to your mother... _soon to be_ mother.

Your eyes shook at her appearance. It was undoubtedly her... Toriel. She was back to her younger, tranquil self as you first remembered her. _How could you ever forget..?_

You beamed to her in the mist of your teary-eyes and rushed forward, closing yourself into an embrace. "Mom...!"

Your goat mother was more than just taken aback at your outward display of affection. But, in due time, she herself melted into the warmth and returned the embrace, patting the small of your back.

"Do you wish to call me your mother...?" she asked softly.

"Yes... for eternity!... a thousand times, _yes..!"_ bawling with happy tears, you gave her the obvious answer.

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While Toriel and you strolled through the memory-evoking ruins, it occured to you in surreptitious gathering that you should most definitely break ground to her, too. Starting from your identity, the inevitable future events, your purpose of return, ...then, towards the underlying truth behind her foregone children, the true identity of Flowey— _Everything._

...That was an overwhelming amount to disclose. And frankly, you weren't sure if you were up for it.

Because the last time you broke the news to her about Asriel, it broke _her._ She did not take the predicament too well to what you remembered, but she did in time, recover. And though it was another entire ordeal and heartbreak to go through, it was imperative that you make the call a lot faster this time, considering the important task you had come back for.

Even so, for the time being, while you were passing through the corridors destined toward her cozy house, you let yourself bask in every single moment with her once again. Together, with your mother always somewhere beside you—you conversed with the dummy, you encountered froggits and whimsuns, and good old Napstablook, but you restrained from engaging in any form of battle.

Then, afterwards when it came to the strong independent walk you had to take on your own, for a tense moment you were unsure if your mother would be waiting at the end. From going through a blunt unexpected experience already, you weren't positive if there wouldn't be any other anomalies to this timeline...

Thankfully though, she was there, hiding behind a pillar and waiting for your arrival. You sighed in relief and hugged her as she reappeared before you.

"Mom?" you called.

"Yes, my child?"

"I want butterscotch cinnamon pie!" you cried cheerfully.

"O-oh, you do?" she voiced surprise.

"And I want to help you make it—at your house!"

She had on a temporary pensive, but pleasent smile as she eventually came to accept the idea, "As you wish, then. Come with me, small one."

You followed her guidance as she gently held on to your tiny hand. You returned the sentiment by gently squeezing hers. You were not going to risk being apart from her, at least until you eventually had to leave her behind... You wanted to durate the moment together with her as much as you could before you had to do what was inevitable.

You swallowed with determination.

You had to let her know what she rightfully deserved; what was under the surface, and what was ahead of her. You had to let her know exactly what dangers would occur if that barrier was broken. If Asgore and the monsterworld continues to yearn for freedom out to the surface, all the future traumas you witnessed will unveil and the entire hopes of monsters will be bereaved. In order to stop that, you had to consult the King to persuade the monster community... to stay put underground. Obviously, in order to do that, you had to make extra sure that your life is still sustained up to that point. But you were not confident in withstanding your mother's attempts to stop you this time, with only _one_ given chance.

You looked to your mother's hands and yours laced together. You let your eyes climb up until they met the top—her smiling face which turned to glance at you.

You gave a shy nervous grin. You had to convince her to let you off easy this time, but for now, it could wait.

Soon, you both stopped short in front of your destination. You could already feel the warm lighting of the house's interior resonating towards you.

This was it. You cracked a wistful smile as you followed behind your mother's welcoming lead.

ㅡ

The air sent off a soft scent of butterscotch and cinnamon.

Toriel, with her oven gloves, laid down the pie tray near the window to let it cool. You could see the pie you baked together turned out perfect, just by the looks of it. Toriel had been pleasently surprised during the process of making it together, as you already seemed to have the mastery to prepare it so seamlessly. Naturally, while you had to wait for the pie to heat up in the oven, she posed some questions on that. But you managed to evade the actual answer. You knew you were stalling, but the time wasn't right yet. The rest of the time you spent with her in front of the crackling fireplace while she read aloud some books about snails to you. Her interest on snails never had profoundly fascinated you, but you were always up for the talk, and her specialty food, escargot.

Now, with her taking off the oven gloves and laying it on the kitchen counter, you watched as she turned to you and suggested you take a nap in the guest room. You were well aware where that was and whose it belonged to. You turned glum, but a nap sounded pretty great by now. You could use some rest to restore some energy you likely needed.

Yawning, you stepped into the reminiscent room, and looked around, before you delved into the warm bed covers.

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"No...! _NOOOO!"_

Screaming, you sat bolt upright from your nightmare, throwing your covers. It took a moment until the cognition of reality sank in. You tried to calm yourself as you took in heavy lungful breaths. You haven't had it for a while, but it had been a dream... of _that night._

Panting and sweating excessively, you shifted your legs out to the side and rose from the bed. You nearly squashed the pie piece Toriel had left for you underneath. Then within seconds of your cry, Toriel barged in, worry-stricken all over her face. She swooped in and hugged you tightly.

"My child! Are you okay..?! Tell me, what is the matter?"

You clung on to her sleeves and let yourself weep in her chest. You felt infinitely weak and frightened, especially now that you've lost your powers.

After a while, you pulled away and gazed into her with determined eyes.

"Mom, I have something to tell you..."

ㅡ

"The dream I had," you began recital, situated on the kitchen table across from her, "..was about intruders I had back when I was in the surface."

Toriel put her paw to her mouth, "How horrible..." she stated, "It must have been a hard time you had, before you fell into the ruins."

You shook your head, trying to figure out how to say this. You fiddled with the sea tea cupped in your hands, fixed by your mom to ease both of you down.

"No, mom," you said, licking your dry lips, "Actually... it was _after_ I left the ruins, ...and the underground, with you."

Your mother of course, initially had on a concerned expression than surprise, wondering if the nightmare had shaken you too much.

You confronted her again with a stern tone, "Mom, I'm telling you the truth. You see, I'm a time traveller. And I traveled back through time. We have to stop dad.. no, _Asgore,_ from trying to get everybody to the surface."

...

There was a cold still of silence.

Toriel already looked as if she was about to faint at the fact that you knew the King's name. The tea cup held in her grasp rattled excessively from her shaking hands. But gradually, after she aquiesed in the plain evidence, you took the sweeping silence as a cue to continue.

You told her everything that had happened for you to free everyone to the surface. You told her you knew she used to be queen of all monsters, and how she used to have two children. This broke her heart and yours alike. Her head was lowered to hide her expression, but teardrops landed down on the table beneath, with a few drops falling into the tea.

Distraught after what was only the tip of the iceberg, you gathered your hoarse voice again, trying best to be composed.

"Mom.. I am a result of a _human experiment_ from the surface."

You paused, giving you both some time.

"...All humans who fell here were. They were all deliberately sent here to corrupt the monster timeline, by the works of human magicians, scientists, and all those in a secret sector who still remember the war all those years ago. They wanted to make sure monsters would stay trapped as their ancestors left it. They wanted monsters to give up on the hope of getting to the surface. It didn't matter how it would be done—Even if it meant drastic measures such as _eradicating_ everybody down below, or just simply have someone mingle and keep them in check. ...But they needed determination strong enough to synchronize with magic and compromise the timeline. Unlike popular belief, determination in humans are not always that strong or _qualified._ Not anybody can muster up that much power with the direct intent to exploit magic..."

You bought time as you trailed off, steadying yourself. Toriel's expression couldn't be seen.

"...They figured," you continued, "that type of determination has to be _inscribed_ starting from a young age, so that it's molded and developed in the system naturally. So they sought out experimental subjects... young orphans who wouldn't be missed. They injected both vast amounts of determination and magical catalysts into us, unmindful to what it would do to us. Many of us couldn't handle it... it-it was so horrible seeing stretchers carried out every day..."

You covered your mouth as you felt yourself come close to a hurl. Pent-up emotions trickled down your cheeks and rolled onto your hands. It was years... _so many years ago,_ but you remembered it all as clear as yesterday; and every now and then it would come again and give you nightmares that wouldn't subside, leaving an indelible trauma on the back of your head.

You downed a big lump of tea, trying to quell the sorrow.

Then you took in a sharp sniffle and struggled through your next placement, "I...I managed to escape out of that horrid place.. I was young and naive, but I knew something was terribly wrong. I had a few friends with me...but they all got captured in the way. I came out to the human world that I barely remembered, but I was scared, since none of the stares were inviting to a runaway kid... and the thought of getting caught one day and being trapped back to the lab horrified me."

You wiped your eyes harshly with your sleeve, your voice quite swollen, "That's why I went to Mt. Ebott, and I voluntarily _threw myself into the pit...!"_ you raked out, "Because _that_ was the only place I knew of! Only place where I might be invited... might be _needed—!"_

In a swift second, Toriel bolted up and threw her arms around your convulsing body from drowning sobs. The sea tea she still had in her cup tipped over and spilled out from the impact taken by the table. She held you securely, consoling you with her warmth. But from what you could feel, she was also trembling from shock. You let yourself be carried away in her cradling arms as she left the mess on the table and took you to the living room. When she set you both to recline on the arm chair, she had her paws sifting through your locks, trying to assuage your pain. You burrowed further into her arms.

"I went through a lot of trial and error... countless save and resets.. slowly learning how warm friendships and family can be," you told her. "But because of my skewed conscience from the start, I at times ended up _hurting_ some monsters... becoming possessed by a voice that would coax me to cause pain and grief.. But in the end, I managed to make amends... take everybody to the surface. The problem was, I naively believed that once the public saw the existence of monsters, the secret sector would _have to_ accept tolerance and stop with their injustice..." You stopped yourself. "I was _wrong."_

Toriel was listening intently, her fur paws in your hair tremoring a little.

You went on.

"..They kept lobbying against monster rights, insinuating hateful sentiment inside the human race, creating a world so divided... They were all people of important power that we couldn't even dare fight against. Our lives, and mine especially.. were endangered constantly, by people around us and..."

You could feel tears well up again.

"...Masked men who intruded our house one day. They were obviously sent by the people from the lab, trying to quiet me from baring witness to what happened in there. Though honestly, I wouldn't have been taken seriously... because there was no remaining evidence when we got to that site. Everything had completely vanished to flames by the time we went to check. But I knew they've moved to somewhere else... The next day is when they came in to attack us at our own house, with you, me, and Asgore. If it weren't for Sans who always looked out for us, I might have been captured that very night, never to be seen again..."

You shivered at the thought of it. You owed your _life_ to your skeleton friend, as much as the companionship earned through your memories together.

Even without his cover-up laziness, you knew very well Sans barely used his magic in the outside world, obviously because of the backlashes it would cause. So you knew how desperate he was back then when he swooped in to save you that very night. He had used all what it was in his power to stop the intruders; he had protected you, with a blue unfaltering light embedded in such intensity and... determination...that you have first and last seen from him.

There had been more attempts for ambush, but with Sans escorting you all the time, you remained safe. To your woe, that probably added on to his guilt, because he was unable to focus on his brother's safety because of that. All the while, you and him together with Undyne and Alphys, have all tried to investigate further on where these men came from and where the source of this lab was. But they were incredibly meticulous. There wasn't even the slightest trace of hint. Time skipping, even if it weren't for the promise, would have not been a viable option, for they were also potent of that with their own experimental subjects.

Your mom broke the silence that had taken place.

"This Sans... a monster, I assume... Was he a good friend of ours..?" she cautiously asked.

You nodded, "Both you and me, and everyone." Smiling wistfully, you added more, now that you recalled she didn't know him at this point yet, "He's the guy knocking outside your door once in a while."

Your mother stiffened, fully aware who it was. She took a deep sigh. "You wish to see him... do you not..?"

You exhaled deeply, likewise. "...Yes, mom. I do. I have to go past the doors... I _have to_ meet him. He's someone who can help us all."

When you looked up to her face, you could see her mouth visibly wobble with anguish. Droplets of tears followed suit from her sorrowful eyes.

"...Can you not stay here?...with me?" she beseeched, "We will be happy here... You will no longer have to be scared, my child..." She hugged you tighter. "I shall help you heal...and forget everything... Together, we can both make sure no human soul goes past, and that no one has to face the horrors outside..."

It swayed you, for a second. You could feel her heartache raking throughout your soul and how she was desperate to convince you...

But although it wrecked your heart, you found it in you to pull yourself away from her. You shook your head vehemently as you met her watery eyes.

"Mom, I can't do that..." you whimpered out, "...I have to let everybody know the truth. They all deserve to know. And I don't know how, but these guys have a method to constantly survey what's going on in the underground... Dr. Alphys also did experiments on her own using determination, but humans have it _far more_ advanced. Unless everybody relinquishes the hope to climb up to the surface, they will not stop testing more subjects and sending more of them to play with timelines and to... _hurt_ everyone..."

You lowered your head, unable to withstand to see her disintegrate under this ruthless truth.

Alas, there was another huddle to overcome. This was brutal, but you knew it would convince her.

"...Your child Chara, was also a subject.."

It pained you to feel her wince.

"...I knew them in the lab, although we were caged apart behind bars. They were trained to feel _hatred._ But when they met you here, they seemed to have relented from your boundless love, only managing to hurt Asriel. ...They were victims of their ploy, mother. We can't risk any more of that happening, to anyone."

You heaved a shaky sigh as you let down your next, final sentence,

"...The flower back there. It's Asriel... Dr. Alphys' efforts to bring both him and Chara back went out of hand..."

"...!"

You waited patiently for her to agonize over this. All you could do was gently wipe away her flood of tears. She was shaking her head in fervent denial, but inside, she knew it was no use.

Slowly, she laid you down from her arms. She disappeared for a moment to blow out her nose. You waited in front of the fire with your head downcast, rubbing away your own tear marks. A shadow elongated behind you from the flames.

When she returned, she had her face burrowed in her paws, yet her emotions were in plain sight.

"...Go, child..." she croaked out, "...Before I am unable to stop myself... And please...be _safe._ Let the friend outside protect you. He seems to be a nice fellow..."

She turned her face away and pointed to the stairs in the hall, painfully urging you to start making your way.

You obliged.

Shielding your eyes to catch your tears, you still managed to tromp down the stairs and reach the hallway, sobbing. But at halfway point, you could feel someone crouch down and catch you from behind, wrapping you in an embrace.

You felt a twinge of heartache. She was so warm...

Your mother shivered as she spoke, "Child... Though I do not remember you, you have grown into a brave adult... You are inside a child's body.. but I can sense it through the integrity in your soul."

You quaked, mustering a smile, "Actually mom... I'm not an adult yet..."

"Oh but you are.." she assured, "You are the hope for this world, filled with so much goodness... And I must have loved you, oh _so very_ much.."

"You did," you also ensured her, "You were the best mom I could ever ask..."

"And I'm sure I couldn't have asked for a better child of mine," she said, releasing you, "Be good, child. But please, ...what is your name?"

You turned to her with a broadening smile, "It's Frisk!"

For a moment, she stilled, as if it faintly rang a bell. Her eyes moistened along with a tug of pleasent smile.

"Frisk..." she echoed.

You nodded as you watched her retreat into the darkness, taking her lingering steps back upstairs.

You dwelled in the corridor for a moment still after she vanished. Then with weighted steps, you headed to the thick wooden doors on the end of the hall.

You stood by to see if Flowey would show himself, but not a petal was seen. You reached to the doors and opened it producing a low rumbling creak. The light reflected from the snow blinded you for a split second, as you made your first shaky step out to the soft carpeted snow under your feet.

ㅡ

Snowflakes floated down and embroidered on your hair. You were shivering. But you doubted it was just from the temperature.

You blew out from your bottom lip. You knew what you were going to say. You had done this before, and had played this through your head already. Still, whether the response would be reciprocated another time... who knows.

A sound of a stick crumbling rung the winds of the thick forest.

Here he came.

You unwittingly hurried your steps toward the wide-barred bridge, just until you let a deep foreboding voice stop you in front of it.

 **"Human... Don't you know how to greet a new _pal?_ Turn around and-"**

You whipped around and instead of taking his hand, clutched on to the wrist of his extended arm.

...

 _Pfffffffff...ttttt!_ —

There was an absolute infantile fart noise.

How hilarious, the cushion was also attached to his wrist.

The skeleton chuckled as the air elevated, "whoa, buddy, slow down there. seems you've got me under a _wrist."_

"Sans, this is no time for jokes," you said, taking a serious tone. Then you leaned in on your tippy-toes, thanks to your shortened height. You whispered confidently at where his ear would be, "I'm a stupid doodoo butt."

...

He blinked.

"...did you just say..?"

You pulled away. "Yes."

He put on a cheeky grin.

"wow. i can't believe you would say that. it's my secret c-"

"Codeword, yeah, I get it. And the _secret_ secret code word is 'I'm the legendary fartmaster.' No, cross that, secret secret _triple-secret_ codeword."

Sans stared down at you, looking right between shocked and impressed. He let out a low whistle through his teeth.

"alright, alright, you prove yourself qualified, kid," he said with his skeletal hands shown up, chuckling, "already." He shoved his hands back to his pockets and shifted his weight, his eye sockets half-lidded and laid-back. "what can i do for ya?"

You rushed your words, knowing there wasn't much time until someone else came in. "Sans, we gotta stop monsters from getting out to the surface."

The skeleton bristled on his spot.

The pinpricks in his eye sockets moved around as he mulled over in his head for an answer.

You sighed and came again, "And I'm older than I look, I'm seventeen."

His eye-lights completely disappeared.

"...next moment you're gonna tell me i was your long lost lover or somethin'"

"Uh..."

"SANS! SANS WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The two of you paid quick attention to the nearing of a loud boisterous voice.

"heh. well, for now, cross the bridge and hide behind that-"

"-conveniently shaped lamp." You finished for him.

"geez, you're really starting to rattle my _bones_ here," he joked at you, winking.

You rolled your eyes and briskly walked over to take cover behind the lamp.

There, you huffed as you let your heart sink. This was such a let down. Evidently, it seemed like it would take far more to get Sans to remember who you were.

"...And you told me not to forget," you mumbled, disappointed. You felt tears pricking out, but held back as you heard a fretful arrival.

You peeped out of your station, taking a glimpse at the encounter taking place beyond. To no mistake, it was surely the tall younger skeleton who was venting out his frustration at his brother for being lazy at his sentry duty. You were enthralled by his presence. _Papyrus was back..!_

You were barely containing yourself behind the lamp. No, the _hell with it,_ you lunged out of your hiding place and jumped to entangle the startled skeleton in your outstretched arms. You caught hold of his slim waist, dangling on him ever so tenaciously.

You cried out in happiness.

"Oh Papyrus, I _missed you!"_

"A HUMAN?! SANS OH MY GOD IT'S A HUMAN! AND IT KNOWS MY NAME!"

"it sure is, bro. a human." you heard Sans reply.

Papyrus bounced up and down with you still affixed. "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, I WILL BE SO POPULAR! POPULAR! _POPULAR!"_

Sans grinned wide at his brother's enthusiasm.

The tall skeleton, after taking time to cool down, gently pulled you off and up to the sky taking a good look at you. He put you back down on the snow.

"AHEM HUMAN," he addressed to you, hand to chest, "I—THE GREAT PAPYRUS—DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU HAVE BEEN BESTOWED THE HONOR OF KNOWING MY NAME IN ADVANCE. BUT NEVERTHELESS! I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND-"

"-take me to the capital," you cut in, laughing nervously, "Yeah, about that..."

"EXACTLY! WHICH MEANS... NYEH? H-HUMAN! HOW DO YOU KNOW OF THIS INFORMATION IN ADVANCE? ...AGAIN!"

"you see paps, this human, they know my name, too," Sans stepped in.

He draped an arm over your shoulder and pulled you close.

"SANS?!" Papyrus' eyes expanded to wide circles, "HAVE YOU MET THIS HUMAN BEFORE?"

The shorter skeleton flashed his signature wide toothy grin.

"'course, bro, a skele- _ton_ of times," he winked, "allow me to introduce you to..." he laughed meaningfully as he darted his pinpricks at you, "frisk."

...

You and Papyrus both gawked wide. Your mouth stuttered to say something-

But Papyrus beat you to it and stomped his foot, complaining, "YOU KNOW THEIR NAME?!" and "WHY HAVEN'T YOU TOLD ME YOU FOUND A HUMAN" and "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE THAT LAZY" as he later, zipped away in remarkably speedy strides with a "NYEHEHE," saying he has to make preparations for a mind-boggling puzzle.

After he disappeared out of sight, you knitted your face to a frown at Sans.

"You really scared me you know."

"heh, sorry kid. but you really oughta grow some _spine."_

Your eyebrows were still furrowed, your lips jutting out, but you couldn't help but burst into lighthearted laughter. Sans beamed wide at you and pulled his arm away to tousle the top of your head.

You were back to the start of the timeline. Everything was back in place.

And Sans did remember you, along with his silly jokes.

Get _dunked on,_ for sure.

ㅡ

 **A/N: I was originally thinking three chapters, but depending on how the length turns out, I think it might become more than that.**

 **Anyway, hope this was enjoyable!**

 **Err... I guess enjoyable is not the right word. But yeah.**


	3. Treacherous Truth Betold

**A/N: Oh god, this definitely isn't a three chapter story now. And how do I end up making it darker every proceeding chapter?**

 **Some more story developments but, with a big side-dish of ANGST.**

 **Welp. You were warned from the start... T-T (Sorry... *sad author*)**

ㅡ

"so you're gonna go to asgore?"

"SHHHHH!"

There was a humored chuckle as you shushed him.

"i think what you did just grabbed more attention, bucko." Sans nudged you playfully with a voice pitched down.

"...?"

Oh.

Right as you turned to search the restaurant, you met with all pairs of monster eyes, some of them more than two, giving you a curious dose of scrutiny. But with nothing mildly interesting to see, they all faced away and resumed to their previous dialogues.

Your thumping chest slacked back to normal. Facing front, you sighed, sad and disheartened. For your entire time being here, their expectant gazes guilted you by the second.

Huddled together, they conversed jovially amongst themselves, eyeing you once every while, how they were saved and how they could finally get back to the surface. Just like the first time, and all the other multiple times you had arrived to this timeline. Sure, some of them were just sharing mundane day to day conversations, others were just too drunk, but you could see a lot more were talking about hopes for the future, especially with Sans more actively helping you out this time.

You felt the pressure to flop your face onto your palms and find refuge.

Never in their mind would it occur to them that they actually _have_ been to the surface, and because of that, some of them had ended to dust. It was still vivid in you and you could feel it. Those lurid scenes and severe dust-sheds of the future played throughout your head. If all these monsters knew the _real_ purpose you had come for, they probably wouldn't be so upbeat and hopeful about a human arriving.

With another dismal sigh, you spaced your fingers apart and stared at the bar counter below as if you meant to carve a hole through it.

It was something you had to cope with one way or another. You knew you had this coming. But despite it all, you had decided to turn everything back, hadn't you?

You stayed perfectly still as Grillby came back and placed two orders of burgers and fries in front of you and the skeleton. Sans gave you a light tap on the shoulder while he pulled his own portion in front of him. You parted from your hiding place to look up at the just-cooked meal. Though the smell was luring, you had no appetite, to be honest, knowing what you had to do to these happy faces around you. But for some reason, Sans had insisted coming here to talk. Probably for memory's sake, you imagined.

Cupping your cheek to the side, your free fingers began to play with one of the fries on the plate as you fell into silent recollection.

...

 _You sure had missed spending time with Papyrus._ _Peaceful times._

 _What with the atmosphere up in the overworld so gloomy, none of you for a long time had either the time or energy to joke around and truly be happy._

 _That said, earlier on, you had your mind set to delight the tall and overjoyed skeleton by actively engaging with his puzzles. It wasn't a difficult mission at all, as you truly were eager to solve them._

 _What's more, it had seemed that Sans had also decided to partake on the idea. Instead of staying behind and leaving it entirely to you, he followed beside you everywhere and even joined you in deciphering the (already uncovered) puzzles. Papyrus, with squinted eyes, carped that he was playing for the wrong team, but that did nothing to stop him. His brother gave up with a mild sigh, satisfied that he at least wasn't being lazy._

 _Thankfully this also gave you the luck of not having your life endangered. You could tell that Sans—throughout Papyrus' puzzles, and through multiple encounters with Snowdin's monsters—was keeping an eye-socket out for you. Before you could ACT, he was always a step ahead to do all the smooth talking_ _—_ _and excessive 'petting' to the dogs_ _—_ _so that your progress forward would not be slowed._

 _Yet the problem was, like you hadn't yet in the present moment, you at that point haven't confided the news of your unfortunacey to him, mindful of other eyes...or cameras that could be watching you._ _Then later on, just when you were seriously contemplating when or where to consult him on the issue, you found you had solved the last puzzle that Papyrus prepared._

 _Well... more precisely, the puzzle had essentially solved itself, as both you and Sans last watched Papyrus—in shocked stupor_ _—_ _twirl away from the entirely harmless array of pink tiles._

 _Sans gave a good-natured laugh at what was always the anticlimatic outcome. At that, a cloud of cold seeped out of his teeth, making him realize in a hurry;_ _he_ _took notice of how the cold was seriously getting to you, cheeks and fingers aching red from the harsh winter bites. You yourself, to be fair, had forgotten from being distracted by the puzzles. Producing a soft sigh, his eye-lights focused to a more serious demeanor, taking his jacket off for your warmth._

 _"okay. 'nough kiddin' around." He placed the hood of the clothing on your head. The rest of the material followed and enclosed your whole frame perfectly. "time to talk."_

 _His chill touch of boney hand slid down and took firm hold of yours, before blipping both of you to the front of Grillby's._

...

And so you've ended up here, having even more eyes deterring you from making the confession.

You groaned as you dropped the french fry which was now flimsy from your finger attacks.

You looked over at Sans who was scraping his skull with a comb, jacket back in his possession. He seemed to be completely unmindful to anything that was going through your head.

Your lips tightened to a pout.

Sure, as of now, you've only let him on on your plan to get straight to Asgore and try to reason with him. But had he no worries? No thought or input on the plan? Atop of everything, you had just turned back years of time for both of you.

Well, for all you knew, this could be another façade he was putting on to hide his true emotions. Either way, even after quite some time knowing him, he still was a skeleton hard for you to read. It didn't help that he had no skin to call out his bluff, either.

You sighed and shook your head.

"Couldn't we have found a place more private?"

He laughed amused. "i'm afraid that's a difficult appointment to make. you've already pried me away from my sentry job."

You made an eye roll when you met his blithe, smiling face. If only he knew how serious things were for you right now, he wouldn't be acting so carefree. You watched him stuff his comb back in his pocket, as you gathered a deep breath.

"I need you to help me," you let out.

"yeah, sure thing buddy." he replied flippantly, lifting up a ketchup bottle.

"No, I _really_ need you to help me," you insisted again, volumed down. You turned your head the other way and saw that Grillby was wiping the opposite end of the counter. Plenty of distance. Your head came back to whisper to him, "Sans... I lost my power to RESET."

That moment, the cap of the ketchup bottle fell off and splattered all the contents on to his plate. You weren't sure if that was meant to be done on purpose if otherwise.

Slowly, your skeleton friend lowered the unfastened bottle back on the bar counter. His eye-lights were pensive as he shook his hands off of the condiments that had spilled.

The source of light in his eye-hollows soon dimmed to darkness.

"you're right," he muttered in a low voice, "maybe we should find somewhere more private."

ㅡ

If anyone asked, it was a bit odd _—_ after him teleporting you both _—_ to find your feet touching the scorching gravels of what was Hotland. Sans, unheedful to your daze, took the lead and made a beeline toward an obvious direction. Dust erupted from the edge of his hastened steps.

Shaking your momentary funk, you scurried behind your skeleton friend, trying to ignore the watchful stares coming from the royal guards. It amazed you how they were already stationed to keep watch. Words fly so fast.

"Alphys' lab?" You asked Sans in a whisper, catching up to his unusually fast strides.

"first things first." he offered vaguely, approaching the mechanical steel doors. He stood by for it to glide open and stepped into the dim laboratory.

As it always was, the lights were all out, preventing anything from view.

"alphys." Sans called out, taking your wrist and gently tagging you behind. You blushed at this subtle act.

For a prolonged moment, there was silence suspended in the laboratory, lights still absent and the space pitch dark. Sans roamed his eyes patiently as he waited.

"alphys." he tried again, more urgently. The sound of his deep voice echoed the hallways.

Then without any warning, the lights ignited to full power, illuminating the entire interior. Thanks to the brightness, you could see the large monitor framing both you and Sans, and next to that, the lizard's work table in a messy jumble of anime collections and instant noodles, as per usual.

Shortly, the owner of the residence sprawled out in a frenzy, stumbling in her steps. "S-sans? And, oh h-h-hiya!" she yelped sharply as she caught sight of you behind him. It struck her like a brick. The lizard monster flailed about, clapping both sides of her face in embarrassment, "Oh. My god. I didn't expect you to show up so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and nothing's _prepared—!"_

" 's all good, pal." Sans assured calmly with a wave, "we just need you to help us."

This brought an instant jerk motion from Alphys.

"M-m-me? H-help?" she squeaked nervously. Though she was visibly pleased to be asked for assistance, she was starting to look all red and bothered, "W-What do you need me to d-d-do?"

Fiddling with her claws, she looked at both of you with a strained and uneasy smile.

Sans raised his upper limb and used his gravitational magic to whisk you up front. You felt a slight tug in your center while you were instantly levitated off the ground with a blue heart.

Sans had you hanging in that position. "i need you to run a little test on the human," his request was courteous yet firm, "now."

You smiled somewhat sheepishly at the scientist.

ㅡ

There was dust everywhere as you coughed your way through the basement halls.

"I h-haven't used this place in a while." Alphys told you both bashfully as she guided you out of the outdated elevator, "D-don't be frightened to see something um... unusual."

"don't worry," Sans brushed off the warning like he did the flitting dusts, "the human knows."

Your shoulders went limp at his put out. Honestly, it downed your spirit to hear Sans referring you as _human_ instead of your name, though you knew it was only natural to do that right now.

On the bright side, he was showing more forward worry and affection by thinking of bringing you here for a check-up, so that warmed your heart. You smiled to yourself as a slight blush tinted your face.

After shooing away half of some timid and half of some interested amalgamates, Alphys led you to a room where determination was typically injected.

And before you knew it, you found yourself strapped on the bed under the injection machine with multiple electrodes attached on your body. Sans stood by your side and Alphys worked with a console next to it.

He looked at you, smiling compassionately, patting your head to calm your worried eyes as Alphys came back with a small syringe in her hands.

"I'm going to inject you with some magic with the machine.. just enough to work as a catalyst to see if there are changes inside you. If you've used your time skills with determination in the past, it uh... shouldn't hurt too bad."

You nodded, though the shine of the sharp needle in your eyes instantly brought about painful memories. You asked what it was for.

"This... uh..uhm, is an anesthetic and sleep inducer, j-just in case." Alphys stuttered nervously to your reaction.

But she gradually toughened up, rolling up your sleeve, and you looked away from the sight of the sharp point about to pierce the crook of your arm.

"H-here we go." You heard her say, running up and down your forearm to help you relax.

You nodded in consent.

"Ah _—!"_

As soon as you felt its contact, your vision blackened and blurred.

You last heard a gasp escape you.

...

 _After yet another less than friendly visit from scientists in lab coats, you were left spasming in burning nausea and bouts of thrashing pain from the injection._

 _You dragged yourself close to the bars, screaming and resisting against your cage, begging to be let out. Your cheeks stained of tears, but the bars of the cage were something more than what they looked to be. Some kind of barrier that disables your voluntary use to travel through time. If anything, it only affected you in the cage at most._

 _An eerie grin sneered from across._

 _"What's the hurry?" It asked crookedly, approaching closer, "You're just wasting precious energy..."_

 _...It was them, Chara, who appeared from the dark with the smug smile plastered across their face._

 _They snickered as they licked the edge of their mouth, clearly full on malicious intent. "Wait until I get out of here," they anticipated, eyes darting about, "I'll show the world, all of them... that in this wretched reality.. it's kill or be killed-"_

 _Their pupils, at the end, turned blood red as a menacing laughter emanated from their stretching lips. You felt yourself produce cold sweat with a shudder. How was the lab planning to handle them?_ _You didn't doubt for a second, that if the bars weren't there to confine, no, protect you, you would have been obliterated under their resolve, long long ago._

...

" _—_ _frisk!"_

You woke up at a frantic force shaking you back to your senses. Your eyes shot open, meeting Sans' alarmed pinpricks. Panting violently, you pulled yourself together with the help of Sans bolstering your head up, your constricted pupils dilating back to size. You raised yourself from the bed, tearing off the electrodes in the process.

Trembling, in the corner of your eyes, you saw Alphys nearing you with a worried gaze, tugging along long-papered readings analyzed from the consoles. Her eyes ran through the charts she had gathered in her arms.

"I-it's gone," she informed you shakily, "Your a-affinity with magic to turn back time... it-it seemed to be there before, but... it's not there anymore."

She eyed you both through her round glasses with infinitely sad eyes, the flicker of dim lab lights reflected on the rims.

You hung your head defeatedly.

It was just as you thought.

"I guess... I'll just have to go to Asgore without my powers." You said solemnly. "I've got one shot at it, but it's worth it."

"no. it's really not."

Both you and Alphys jolted your heads to Sans who wore a dark expression.

You lifted your eyebrow. "What do you mean, no?"

Instead of giving an answer, the skeleton brusquely came forward and grabbed onto your wrist, not even bothering for your opinion.

ㅡ

"Sans."

No response.

You looked around to see where he had brought you to.

You were at Sans' work space, the one at the back of his house. In front of you, he was pacing back and forth on the dusty tiles, plainly worked up on something.

"Sans why are we at your lab?" You augmented your voice.

"gimme a minute," came the gruff answer. His voice was on edge.

You shriveled a notch and decided to stay silent until he let off some steam.

You watched him go back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Then sigh.

"wait here."

He vacated for a moment, leaving you alone and flummoxed, then returned propped against a huge armchair on one side and a mug in his other hand.

By the looks of the dark brew, it was coffee. Black coffee with double-shotted magic to be exact. Shoot, he meant business when he downed that stuff instead of ketchup. That's all he had in the overworld.

Taking a mouthful of what was boiling hot, Sans relocated the couch with his magic then made his way to the work counter across from it, which he hastily dusted and plopped on top of.

He took another sip of the drink, black like the voids in his eyes. Blue wisps of magic billowed from the edges of his teeth, from it instantly turning to consumable matter for his system. He looked at you, fingers clinking the exterior of the cup.

"sit." he ordered, pointing his head to the couch.

You stayed put, finding interest in the floor, wanting to escape the tension by having a trap door open up and swallow you whole.

"i said, _sit."_ he came again, more forceful.

Something terrifying about the flicker in his eye made you flinch and conclude it was wise to obey. You scampered over and flumped yourself uncomfortably on the armchair that was clearly oversized for your body. Though the seating was soft, you were sinking into the material, which you were positive weren't made out of pins and needles. But it sure felt like it.

Sans looked discomfited himself as he took more hasty chugs of caffeine, dangling his legs and slippers on the edges of the work table. He then finally spoke up after staring at the ceiling and wiping his mouth, white pinpricks descending down on you.

"ya can't go to asgore," he said, his tone a warning, "you'll die. this time you'll really DIE." His eyes turned dark at the last word. Along with the mug, he firmly laid down on the table what was practically a command.

Although caught flat-footed, it didn't take long for you to register his words. You looked at him pleadingly.

"Sans.. I know it's dangerous now without my powers but, can't you help me get there?... Or at the least, just let me take the risk alone. I can't let my time-rewinding result to nothing..."

You meant every word of this.

While it would be immensely nice and helpful for him to protect you on the journey, in any case, you didn't want to force him to anything he didn't wish to comply. You knew what you had done was an entirely skewed and lopsided decision, so there was nothing in you to obligate him. It was his choice to join you. And the fact that he even let you RESET and accompanied you up to this point was more than enough help.

You laced your little fingers thoughtfully in your sitting.

Even so, if there was one thing you couldn't back down on; he mustn't stop you from moving forward, or else there wouldn't be any point in coming all this way.

You saw Sans reach for his mug again, tilting it up so that his teeth would come in brief contact with it.

"you don't have to go. all the more, i won't let you. not gonna risk it."

By the sound of his strict tone, his resolve hadn't relented one bit. He swallowed another good amount before you got another chance with him.

"What do you mean? I have to! Or else they'll send more humans down to-"

"they won't."

You stopped as Sans pulled away from his cup, cutting you off. Then, realizing he had spoken with some unintentional force, he averted his eye-lights elsewhere and softened his gruff demeanor, "at least not for a while. they know very well the barrier they set up is potent to only hold six human souls before it ruptures. you were an anomaly, remember? you ran out of their lab."

Steadily within the loop of his fingers, the cup in his hand found its place back on top of the counter.

You, on the contrary, took more to find your footing. You scooched to the front of the couch seat to make yourself more accessible, feet barely touching the tiles.

"…This doesn't make any sense, then why would they ever risk their chance in the first place?" you pointed out, "Even if monsters keep wanting their freedom, there's no way they can get through without human souls. Why send subjects down here? Where's the advantage in that?"

Sans grimaced darkly to a degree which scared you senseless, as if you touched upon something you shouldn't have.

"to play with us, that's what. both you and monsters."

You stared at him, completely bewildered. You tried to wrap your head around what he was getting at, but to no success.

"…I don't understand."

His phalanges rythmically tapped on the edge of the counter, filling the stretched silence. Then it stopped.

"you ever wondered why only the first test subject was filled with hatred?" he questioned, eye-lights dark.

Chara?... You heard yourself say. "They were trained that way."

Without much thinking, you blurted out the obvious answer you knew.

"yeah, but why?"

You looked around and shrugged your shoulders unconfidently. You had just assumed the secret organization was trying out various methods after what with _hatred_ ended a fiasco.

...

...More silence.

After a moment, Sans slumped back more on the work counter and threw you the answer almost casually, though his voice was tight and serious.

"to what we surmised, for sure their aim was to wipe us all out at first. send a little kid down to mess with our hearts and minds, only to kill us at the end."

You nodded your head heavily, conceding to the crude facts.

He acknowledged it. "right. but after what happened with that one, they put away the idea of extermination."

He drew circles on the rim of the mug, pondering deeply.

"so here we thought, the humans must've found anomalies in the timeline continuum, just like we did... feh. granted, it's a far greater incentive to work on, cuz even _after_ signals of life in that human kid's soul vanished, there were time changes still detected inside the barrier."

He laughed throatily in ample disgust before he emptied the last out of his cup. He then pushed the bottomed mug roughly to the side. "my guess? the humans wanted to test just how far a human soul could withstand, and how far they could go to control time with it." His white specks of light shined intensely bright in their blank spaces of darkness, "but what they didn't know was… their first subject had, in fact, amalgamated with a monster."

Asriel... you heard yourself recall again in your head.

Sans scanned you briefly, then continued, seeing that you were following.

"that happenin', with a combination of a human soul that can undertake massive determination, and a monster substance that can provide infinite resource and affinity for magic, the time distortion results… well y'know, _flower_ ished."

Sans finished with a pun at the end, despite the downright graveness in his spiel.

You shook your head, taking this all in. "Sans… how long have you known this?"

The skeleton took a sidelong glance elsewhere as he couldn't come to an immediate answer. He played with the collar of his white t-shirt, having no more coffee to alleviate his nervousness.

"...welp. it's probably something that had to come out eventually," he murmured to himself after a long silence. Something was definitely on his mind. "…i gotta show you somethin'."

You suspected that he was being evasive.

"Sans-"

He stopped you by lifting his hand, descending from the counter.

"after this, i'll let you decide if you still wanna go to the capital or not, 'kay?"

His realigned pinpricks to you held what was so serious and full of gravity, that you couldn't possibly refuse.

You sat straight and observed as he leafed through the drawers, taking out some old and crumpled blueprints that you haven't seen there before. Soon enough, he flashed forward and deposited them all in your arms.

"take a look at those," he instructed.

Sorting out the dumped pile, you took hold of the sheets and half-bakedly scanned through the overly technical descriptions on the blueprints. You wracked your brain trying to comprehend.

Then, as you reached to some drabbles of sketches on the back sheets, your line of sight fastened to a familiar presentation of an anotomical structure that looked unmistakably like... _Sans?_

You held your breath in rising shock.

"Sans… what are these?" You faced up from the papers to look at him incredulously, "What _are_ you…?"

Sifting one of his slippers on the tiles, Sans met head-on with your questioning glance, hands out of pockets.

"i'm like what you are, sort of… just created by different _hands..."_

After having the revelation sweep up to your face, he retreated back to the counter and supported his back on it, phalanges clamping the edges. You thought you saw them quiver, if for a little while, as he settled and put more of his body weight onto them.

"after the tragedy that befell on the first human and the prince, my creator… he and alphys were in charge of the autopsy." He continued to tell you. His eyes were fixed to the floor.

Something occured in your head.

"Dr. Wing Ding Gaster…?" you formulated.

You had no idea how you knew that name.

Sans didn't seem so surprised at your intuition.

"uh-huh," he said bluntly, expression grave and humorless. "alphys wasn't the only one working in the true lab; she was an assitant, then. and during the 'autopsy,' the body and some element of human soul ended up partly merging themselves together."

Securing his hold of the edges, he hoisted himself back on the counter, body hunched over and legs apart. He gathered his hands and positioned them in the middle.

"you see, dr. gaster observed some peculiar energy particle reactions enough to cause time distortions, which was what allowed the two embodiments to bypass the barrier. this, he thought, could be refined to override the barrier's time containment. so after secluding himself to countless research on his own, he came up with somethin'—he got the idea of using part of what's human and infusing part of his magic." He lifted a finger idly to let one of the papers you previously saw stand out before you, glowing with little wisps of magic. You reached for it and brought it upfront.

He sealed his eyes shut, then opened them partly again, watching you with every intent. "...he built my structure one by one with physical matter similar to a human… then, with his magic, brought me to life."

Your eyes intensified with each proceeding of his speech. This was Sans' birth story. He never told you this much about himself. Ever.

You examined the blue print he handed you, which was still over your head, but you readily recalled how you learned from Alphys' experiments long ago, that monsters do not have enough physical matter as that of humans. But if they _did..?_

You directed your eyes closely at the schematics. Now with what was disclosed, the drawings and descriptions made a little more sense.

According to them, Sans, with his physicality made of matter, could withstand more determination, and with his strength continuously powered by magic, he could...

You gasped, making the connection. "That's how you can distort time and space!"

Sans gave an affirming nod. "there you have it. ...in theory, i can create bottomless amounts of energy to power through time. but i can't do what you do. can't SAVE or bust the barrier or nothin'."

Silently, he scratched his skull and watched you with beading sweat as you delved more into the papers, embarrassed as if you were taking a peek at his baby pictures... which you essentially were, sort of.

Seen enough, with his magic, he whipped the papers out your hands, opened the drawer near his feet, and jammed them all in at once. You were a bit disappointed, but let him have his way. You could find your way here any time, if you set your mind to it.

"but yeah, so anyway," he turned back to you, kicking the drawer shut under him, "that's practically my birth certificate. it was done without alphys knowing, so she and no one else has any idea how i just appeared one day. no one ever questioned, for a fact. it just was." He made a plain motion, holding up the palm of his hands.

Your eyes lit up at a thought. "And... Papyrus? What about him?" you queried, suddenly curious. Surely he was created the same way.

Sans' face dropped a little as his confidence withered away. You regretted immediately for asking the question.

"he... didn't turn out with'it." he said out of his comfort zone, rubbing his neckbone. You nodded, taking the hint. Watching you, he shrugged and smiled to himself in the most endearing way, "but still the coolest lil' bro." You heard him let out a soft chuckle.

Your eyebrows flopped down as you looked away. You were incredibly saddened but at the same time touched by how he talked about Papyrus.

It made more sense now, why Sans was always so protective of his brother. He didn't want him to feel any less competent just because he wasn't born with special powers.

With both of your spirits downcast somewhere down onto the hard tiles, you decided to change the topic. It wasn't just any day Sans decides to spill the beans, and it was probably a good time to move on from talking about Papyrus, prodding it where it hurts. Though, what you were going to bring up next, you had a feeling, might be an even gloomier subject to talk about.

"Dr. Gaster..." you started up carefully, "he studied a lot to try to disassemble the barrier, huh?"

"yeah," Sans answered glumly to your question, "the man theorized countless times to figure out different ways. i for one, used to help him."

You were afraid to bring up what you had next. "..But what made you stop? ...What happened to Gaster?"

Sans took a long pause before he could manage himself.

"he... entered something out of his reach. created a machine that engulfed him whole." Your eyes followed his dispirited ones that indicated the large and obtrusive machine draped with cloth in the corner. "it erased him straight out of the timeline, due to his mostly magically-comprised existence that couldn't resist the break-out of time."

You could feel your soul instantly stir with sorrow, breathing in the heavy air. You backed up on the couch and flopped your back onto it. Then you threw your hands up and uplifted your face, wanting to hide.

Sans slouched back on the counter and stared at the empty ceiling.

"the moment i realized i couldn't save him from the void," he recounted, "it struck me cold that there's no way i can save anyone else, either."

His hand traced up and prodded the side of his skull, dabbing away some loose sweat. "i know some quirks and tricks to mess around a bit, but what's the point if ya can't really override time itself? heh... kinda pathetic," he laughed sadly to himself, retracting the hand back down. "but it was enough to get a guy like me to quit. before he disappeared, gaster was thought to be the hope to set everyone free, but then the void got him and no one could remember him. without him in anyone's memory, i couldn't pull myself to continue on with his work..."

His voice abated with somberness at the end, fingertips digging into the solid table. You lowered your hands from your face sunken in pity, watching him pull himself upright and crouch forward like before. "i wasn't ready for the responsibility... not enough determination, you could say."

He sighed deeply enough to have it touch the floors.

"...after all, even the humans who came down here with their 'abundant' determination.. couldn't last long and died eventually. takes a special kind to utilize magic for time skipping purposes that long. was a matter of time 'til their power to SAVE wore off..."

You stiffened.

Wait...

Wear off...?

Sans must have caught your bemused expression. He looked unnerved and stumbled a little on his words,

"...you're not the first case...to have this happen." he explained, "it always came to the point that.. at the end, the other humans could no longer muster the ability to turn back time and bring back their lives. their consciousness would get stuck in the void while their soul stayed intact for a bit. so asgore didn' even have to go as far as to kill any of them himself. they always succumbed to the time space before they could get to him. 's the only reason we were able to collect up to six souls. that, or else, it would have been an unconquerable battle for us monsters."

By the end of his spiel, you were frozen still, all except for your quavering lips.

...What were you hearing? _Was this a_ _dream?_ A mess up in a timeline screwing you over?

Sans took a glimpse at you, fully seeing you come out of your element, but not knowing what was behind it.

"you were different though." he pressed on, "i could see that while watching over your journey. no precedent human has ever had the determination enabling that much affinity with magic." he inhaled and breathed out most gratefully to praise your kind acts, "..and you had managed... to save us all."

"Hold on, Sans." You stopped him from going any further. You weren't about to allow this inkling go past. "You knew this all along…?" You questioned him, voice spilling with apprehension. "...That every time a human saves or resets… the ability could eventually come to… an _end?"_

Turning stark serious, he paused tensely but nodded, fully out to disclose everything.

Your lips sealed shut, contorting angrily at the edges. Your stomach was churning, your throat squelching up with something hard to contain.

You paced yourself, trying hard to keep your cool. "…and that's why you wouldn't let me do it outside?"

He gave another nod. "you might not have been able to bring yourself back to life when you most needed it. after you freed us all, you weren't to be put through the burden again."

 _?! ..._ There was a sharp shatter as you reached your breaking point.

You ripped out of your seat, losing it altogether,

" _That's for me to decide!_ I knew nothing of this! Why didn't you tell me anything, Sans?! What if I actually did SAVE or RESET, regardless?!"

Sans, of course, looked fairly startled at your outburst. Rubbing the back of his skull, he lowered himself from the counter, regaining some semblance of composure.

"look, for all it takes, 's all good now, isn't it buddy? in the end, i knew you wouldn't do such a thing, you were determined to keep the promise you made me."

He advanced closer to where you were, filling you with growing disdain. You saw him reach for your shoulder but you jerked back sharply, refusing to have him touch you.

Sans obviously sensed your antipathy and retracted his arm, slumping his shoulders. "...or tell me otherwise. am i wrong?"

Ohoho no, he was _right,_ alright. In fact, he knew you _so well_ to the point that he could use it against you. But you? You knew _nothing_ of him...

You backed away from the stranger. Who was he even? He was not the Sans you thought you knew. If anything, those blue prints in the drawers screamed that out for you, along with all his _apathy_ and _deceit_ he loved to surround him with.

"...You _lied_ to me," you said with betrayal.

And how gullible you were to fall for it. All along, you thought you had locked away your powers for what _he_ and _everyone_ wanted _._ But now, catching up to your outright naïveté, you realized the ban he put on you was only meant to sustain your own _petty_ life, just because 'one day' you might not be able to revive from your almost infinitely many lives... when others, they barely even get a chance for _ONE._

You swallowed tightly as an uncontrollable rush of guilt crawled over your body.

All those lives you could've SAVED... _turned to dust..._

"I thought you didn't want me to use it because you were _sick of repeating..."_

You could see complete anguish cloak the skeleton at your forwardness, eyelights wavering in dark voids. He couldn't dare meet your gaze.

"i _was._ hell knows i was sick of it all repeating," he said wearily, "but your safety meant more to me, don't you get it, kid?" The edges of his mouth faltered a bit in its path, " 'sides, you can't rely on time-rewinding forever. nothing gets done if you keep resorting to taking the easy way out-"

"It's not the easy way out Sans, _and you know it!_ I _never_ turn back time for just any reason! I don't take my powers for granted!"

"that's exactly why I couldn't let you go through any of that process again," he raised his tone, "you shouldn't be taking the burden. you're just another victim to this whole dirty ploy contrived by those poor excuses of a specimen."

Soon enough, his blazing eyes glowed within dangerous hollows as they bore into yours, part of it imploring you to please stop and reconsider...

"you don't deserve such pain that you had to go through. you shouldn't have to risk your life for all of us."

But this only aggravated you. He was sugar-coating this with all good intent, but more or less, it didn't change how he had set you up for his control of matters.

"Oh so that's why you left me to just _die_ those countless times when I appeared in the Underground? Sit idle while you just watch as a _bystander?"_ You let out a contemptuous little snort, not at all convinced. "You never put up a fight to save me during my journey Sans! Not even _once!_ You waited for me to just die until I couldn't come back again, just like every other human did!"

Standing rock solid, Sans lacked so much of a comeback, unable to deny his past mistakes.

"...it wasn't my call to stop what everyone wanted… and what _you_ wanted…"

His pinpricks returned faintly as he hung his head, falling to repentance.

"And now it suddenly is?! What gives you the right to hide all what you just said to me and block me from making my own decisions? I could've saved everyone up there, Sans! EVERYONE!"

His eyes flared back up to affront you.

 **"not without using it all up one day and endangering your sustenance. i couldn't risk losing someone again to the void."**

His voice rumbled with what was dark and daunting, but the base of it was really an empty threat, sprouting from his insecurities. His expression soon dissolved to sorrow and self-hatred, trampling all over your conscience.

He pulled up a hand to his eyes.

"...i stopped you 'cause i thought i could do something for a change.. i thought after coming to the surface my powers would result to _something,_ without having you go through the torment..." Tremulously, his hand tumbled down to the front of his chest, grasping tight hold of it. He looked to you, struck with full-blown remorse. "i wanted to protect you, frisk. we should be protecting _you,_ not you protecting _us..."_

His guilt-ridden confessions barreled into you, swaying your belligerent heart little by little, until—

"...you're just a kid.."

...

...All was lost at that sentence. It was as if he had hit you with a bone attack. A thick, raw, jagged one, by that.

But of course... _th_ _at was all you were to him, wasn't it?_

Your heart crumbled at the blow of the impact it left you with.

 _...What more had you expected?_

With a low moan, you shoved your face down, twitching as all signs of empathy escaped you. _Why?..._ Why did he always have to keep it to himself and make you feel _worthless_ in the end? He never ceased to hide things from you, though you always gave him your full trust. Because no matter how much you gave your all, you were just a _stupid kid_ in his eyes.

Were you that unreliable? Were you not good enough for him to share his burden?...

...

No. That's enough, Frisk. Stop it.

You couldn't let it get to you this time. You weren't going to reduce yourself to pitiful sobs because that's exactly what a child in his eyes would do. You had had it with him and his outright deception and closeted secrets, whatever the intentions were aimed to be.

You harshly swiped away your angry tears to brand him with disdainful eyes.

"A kid... that's all I am to you, aren't I? Someone who you're justified to hide things from and stay secretive, because I should always stay naive and ignorant and... _useless.."_

Sans was left powerless under your accusation, having little to offer, even if you had allowed him to. "that's..."

"I get it, Sans," You spat with seeping venom, "It saves you the hassle. Now I really _am useless_ without my powers to even get myself far."

With all deliberateness, you clapped your hands, emitting a tight laugh devoid of any joy. You never knew it could hurt so much to laugh.

"Congratulations, you've effectively japed me," You sneered, fluttering your arms in mock celebration. "You already expected this to happen, me being stripped of my powers. No wonder you didn't stop me from turning back this much time."

Sans was completely stumped in agony, not knowing what to do.

"no, i-" he stopped short, air bottoming out of him. "i really didn't expect it to happen, i mean... at least, i really hoped it wouldn't- honest to god, i never would wish upon for you to lose what you had. but you were so set on doing it... i knew i couldn't overpower you even if i wanted to- and since you were that determined, i stepped down and also figured it would be for the best, to keep everyone safe here." He dropped his weighted gaze, contrite and heavy with guilt. When it finally came up to chance at you, his voice was but a raspy whisper. "believe me when i say this, kiddo..."

Your insides stirred violently at his plea.

It's true. He couldn't have stopped you... as long as he kept everything a _damned secret, that is._

Your face contorted even more to a nasty scowl. "You think you know so well when you should step in or stay out."

Sans turned rigid, but couldn't form any words to that.

And despite his fully outted honesty, you were still livid and anything but sympathetic. You sucked in a frustrated breath at what he confirmed, crossing your arms.

"Well, this _kid,_ is gonna go take a hike on a road to nowhere. Because now that it comes to this, what does it matter if I die, right?"

"no frisk, _wait-"_

You let his last reach-out bounce right off of you, closing yourself off from him entirely. Because right now, you just couldn't bear to look at him.

You turned sharp on your heels and stormed your way out of the suffocating tension. You didn't fare too well with closed spaces.

Besides, it was already decided for you. He sure did a good job discouraging you from going to the King's castle, as well as anywhere else in the universe. You stifled a climbing sob as your restrained weakness broke out to tears. Hell, if anything, the void sounded pretty good at this point to count for your invalidness.

For shame it didn't swallow you up the last time.

You made sure slamming the door sent the blatant message of your inner statement as you stomped your way out of the hidden lab.

All you wanted was to disappear to thin air.

ㅡ

...

After you barged out of the door, Sans was left to himself drowning in self-disgust.

Without much thought and resolve, he shuffled over and opened the drawer on the very left. On the photo album that he fished out, he reached for the card sticking out in the back. A poorly drawn picture done by his younger self had on three standing family members.

On it, there was an equally messy handwriting scribbled across:

...

"don't forget."

..

ㅡ

 **A/N: ...Ouch. It hurt to write this.**

 **I've written some more for the next chapter, which came to reveal the story is turning out longer, and might be a good thing.**

 **Unfortunately, I have to leave it hanging like this for a while. Have a thesis to write, which I didn't imagine to come this fast. Ugh... :( sorry everyone.**


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